Note 1: Lauren
was immediately eliminated by placing last in the Quickfire
Challenge.

Note 2: Team
Sexy Pants was proclaimed the winning team on the show, but Verizon
WirelessV
CAST revealed that there were two individual winners: Radhika
and Hosea. However, Bravotv.com states that all chefs from the
winning team won the elimination challenge.

Note 3: Due to
a refrigerator malfunction which spoiled some of the chefs'
ingredients during the Elimination Challenge, no one was
eliminated.[5] On air,
the judges said they wouldn't eliminate any of the contestants as a
"holiday gift" because they admired the way they had all helped the
affected chefs when the refrigerator failed, and because they had
all performed below expectations.

Note 4: Because
no one was eliminated in Episode 6 (see Note
3), two contestants were eliminated in this episode.

Note 5: Leah,
Jamie, and Jeff (the three most recently eliminated contestants)
were brought back to the competition to compete in a Quickfire
Challenge. The winner would compete in the subsequent Elimination
Challenge, but could only move on to the Final Challenge if they
won this challenge. Jeff won the Quickfire, and the judges picked
him as one of their favorites in the Elimination Challenge, but did
not select him to win. Consequently, he was eliminated
automatically.

(WINNER) The chef won the season and was crowned Top Chef.

(RUNNER-UP) Runner-Up of the season.

(WIN) The chef won that episode's Elimination Challenge.

(HIGH) The chef was selected as one
of the top entries in the Elimination Challenge, but did not
win.

(LOW) The chef was selected as one of the bottom entries in the
Elimination Challenge, but was not eliminated.

(OUT) The chef lost that week's Elimination Challenge and was out
of the competition.

(IN) The chef neither won nor lost that week's Elimination
Challenge. They also were not up to be eliminated.

IN (+) The chef won a pair or team challenge but was not chosen as
one of the judges' favorites.

IN (-) The chef lost a pair or team challenge but was not selected
as one of the judges' least favorites.

Episodes

Each episode includes two challenges. The Quickfire Challenge is
a short, simple challenge with a varying reward each week; in the
initial episodes of the season, it usually guarantees the winner immunity from being sent
home that week. The Elimination Challenge is a more complex
challenge that determines who goes home. One or more guest judges
join the show each week to evaluate both the Quickfire and
Elimination challenges. Each week's elimination is announced in a
segment called "Judges' Table."

Episode
1: Melting Pot

Quickfire Challenge: The chefs are welcomed to
the Big Apple by host Padma Lakshmi and head judge Tom Colicchio with
a signature ingredient: apples. The challenge is a skills
tournament in three rounds. The chef who finishes first in the
Quickfire Challenge will win immunity in the next challenge, while
the chef who finishes last will leave the show "right [there] and
now."

Round One: The chefs must peel 15 apples,
using paring knives only, as quickly as possible. The first nine to
finish will be safe. The remaining eight must go on to Round Two.
Finishing order: Stefan, Fabio, Hosea, Ariane, Jeff, Melissa,
Carla, Richard, Jamie. Stefan wins immunity for the next
challenge.

Round Two: The chefs must then brunoise the apples (dice
them very finely) until they fill up two cups. The first four to
finish will be safe. The remaining four must go on to Round Three.
Finishing order: Danny, Alex, Eugene, Jill.

Round Three: The remaining chefs (Lauren,
Patrick, Radhika and Leah) are each given 20 minutes to "cook
something that will convince [Tom Colicchio] that [they] should
stay here for this challenge in New York". They are given a burner,
a saute pan, a choice of proteins and spices, and the apples they
have prepared. After tasting, Tom chooses Leah and Radhika as the
top two; both are safe from elimination. Lauren and Patrick, who
knew each other as friends from culinary school, end up in the
bottom two. Patrick's dish is chosen over Lauren's, so she is asked
to pack her knives and go to the waiting ferry.

WINNER: Stefan

ELIMINATED: Lauren

Elimination Challenge: Each of the chefs draws a knife from the
knife block marked with one of eight New York City neighborhoods.
The chefs teams must cook dishes which represent the ethnic
cuisines of those neighborhoods: Astoria (Greek), Brighton Beach
(Russian), Long Island City (Middle Eastern), Ozone
Park (Latin), Jamaica (Jamaican), Little Italy (Italian), Chinatown (Chinese), Little India/Curry Hill[6]
(Indian). The two dishes from each neighborhood will be judged
head-to-head. Chefs of winning dishes will be safe; chefs of losing
dishes will be up for elimination.

Pairs of Winners vs. Losers (in the order they presented their
dishes), followed by the type of dish they were to make. The name
of the winning chef for each dish is italicized.

#1: Ariane vs. Stefan (Middle Eastern)

#2: Richard vs. Jamie (Greek)

#3: Jill vs. Radhika (Jamaican)

#4: Fabio vs. Jeff (Latin)

#5: Hosea vs. Carla (Russian)

#6: Leah vs. Melissa (Italian)

#7: Danny vs. Patrick (Chinese)

#8: Alex vs. Eugene (Indian)

At Judges' Table, Eugene, Leah, and Stefan were selected as the
judges' favorites out of the eight winners.

At Judges' Table, Ariane and Patrick were selected as the
judges' least favorites out of the eight losers.

Episode 2: Show Your
Craft

Quickfire Challenge: The chefs are asked to
create their version of a classic, well-loved New York dish: the hot dog. They will be competing
against Angelina DiAngelo of Dominick's Hot Dog Truck in Queens. They each have 45 minutes
and access to the Top Chef pantry to prepare and present their dish
to host Padma
Lakshmi and guest judge Donatella Arpaia, a successful
restaurateur and food expert. The winner receives immunity from
elimination in the next challenge.

Elimination Challenge: The chefs must now open
what Padma calls "Top Chef Restaurant" in Manhattan. They are asked
to create a three-course New American lunch menu for fifty
diners. Since each chef will be responsible for creating his or her
own dish, this is an individual challenge. However, the 15 chefs
quickly break down into three main groups: Appetizers
(Fabio, Hosea, Jamie, Leah, Melissa), Entrees (Alex,
Eugene, Jeff, Jill, Stefan), and Desserts (Ariane, Carla,
Danny, Radhika, Richard). As a whole, they are given 30 minutes to
shop at Whole Foods Market and a budget of
$2,500. During the two-hour prep time, Tom Colicchio comes into the kitchen to
make an announcement: the restaurant at which the chefs will be
cooking lunch is Craft, Colicchio's own flagship New York location.
One more twist: the 50 diners are all New York City chefs who
auditioned for Top Chef Season 5 and did not make it. "This is
probably going to be one of the toughest crowds you've ever cooked
for," he says.

At Judges' Table, Carla, Fabio, and Jamie were selected as the
judges' favorites.

At Judges' Table, Ariane, Hosea and Jill were selected as the
judges' least favorites.

Episode 3: A Foo
Fighters Thanksgiving

Quickfire Challenge: Padma Lakshmi announces that this week's
challenge is about "rolling with the punches." The chefs are asked
to draw knives. Each knife is marked with a number, which refers to
a specific page in "Top Chef: The Cookbook." Contestants are given
an hour to put their own spin on the recipe from that page—a recipe
made famous by a previous seasons' cheftestant. However, 10 minutes
into the Quickfire, Padma calls for everyone to stop working.
"We're in the mood for some soup," says guest judge and
award-winning molecular gastronomist Grant Achatz. The chefs must now use their
remaining 50 minutes to convert their dishes into soups, using
various varieties of Swanson's soup broths provided for them. The
winner receives immunity from elimination in the next challenge.

Elimination Challenge: First, as the winner of
the Quickfire, Leah is given the chance to choose her six teammates
for the next challenge. She picks Fabio, Hosea, Jamie, Melissa,
Radhika, and Stefan. They become Team Sexy Pants.
The remaining contestants—Alex, Ariane, Carla, Danny, Eugene, Jeff
and Richard—become Team Cougar. The chefs are
asked to cook Thanksgiving dinner for the rock band Foo Fighters and its
entire entourage of more than 60 guests, including several
vegetarians. They will cook this dinner at the band's next venue—an
outdoor kitchen at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester,
New York. There are no refrigerators, no freezers and no
stoves—just prep tables, microwaves and toaster ovens. They are
given 15 minutes to create their menus, an hour and $1,200 per team
to shop, and three hours to prepare their meals. A member of the
losing team will be eliminated.

At Judges' Table, Fabio, Hosea, Melissa and Radhika were
selected as the judges' favorites from the winning team.

At Judges' Table, Danny, Jeff and Richard were selected as the
judges' least favorites from the losing team.

Episode 4:
Today Show

Quickfire Challenge: The chefs are given 30
minutes to create a breakfast amuse-bouche. The dishes will be evaluated
by Padma Lakshmi
and Rocco
DiSpirito, cookbook author and celebrity chef. The winner
receives immunity from elimination in the next challenge, as well
as a copy of DiSpirito's latest book, Rocco Gets Real.

Elimination Challenge: This week's challenge
is as much about showcasing the chefs’ telegenic skills as well as
their culinary ones. They are asked to create a dish that can be
cooked and served for a 2½-minute live television presentation
which will be taped inside the Top Chef kitchen. Each chef has a
$100 budget, 30 minutes to shop at Whole Foods, and an hour to prep his
or her dish. One of the judges’ top three favorites will be the
winner. The chef of one of their least three favorites will be
eliminated. Later, the top three chefs are woken by head judge Tom Colicchio at 2
a.m. for a twist: They are to be taken to Rockefeller
Center to cook their dishes for the hosts of NBC'sThe Today Show. During the live
on-air broadcast, the hosts will choose the winning dish.

At Judges' Table, Ariane, Fabio, and Jeff were selected as the
judges' favorites.

At Judges' Table, Alex, Jamie, and Melissa were selected as the
judges' least favorites.

Elimination Challenge Prize: A custom-made kit of about two
dozen chef's tools put together by Rocco DiSpirito, as well as an
opportunity to present a dish live on The Today
Show the morning after this episode airs.

Episode 5: Gail's Bridal
Shower

Quickfire Challenge: The chefs arrive in the
Top Chef Kitchen to find Padma Lakshmi alone, with no guest judge.
The chefs draw knives to choose their competitors. Each pair will
be taken into a darkened kitchen and given 15 seconds to taste a
specific sauce. They must then bid on the number of ingredients
they think they can correctly name. Bids pass back and forth until
one chef challenges the other to match the last placed bid. If a
complete list of correct ingredients is given, the challenged chef
moves on to the next round. Naming any incorrect ingredient ends
the round and the challenger moves on. The winner receives immunity
from elimination in the next challenge.

Round Three:Mexican Mole Sauce. The final round is in
a spelling
bee-style format. The remaining chefs must name a correct
ingredient until only one chef is left.

WINNER: Hosea

Elimination Challenge: Padma is throwing a
bridal shower for a "very dear friend" — fellow Top Chef judge Gail Simmons. She
asks the chefs to prepare a four-course meal for 40 of Gail's
gourmet friends at the shower. Each course is to be inspired by one
of the lines of the traditional wedding rhyme, "something old,
something new, something borrowed, something blue." The chefs draw
knives to be placed into teams: Team Old (Hosea,
Jeff, and Stefan), Team New (Carla, Danny and
Eugene), Team Borrowed (Ariane, Jamie and Radhika)
and Team Blue (Fabio, Leah, and Melissa). Each
team is given 30 minutes and a budget of $800 to shop at Whole
Foods, and 2½ hours to prep their dishes in the Top Chef
Kitchen. The next day, they have 1 hour to finish cooking and
present their dishes to the bridal shower guests at 24 Fifth
Avenue.

At Judges' Table, Team Old and Team Borrowed were selected as
the judges' favorites.

At Judges' Table, Team New and Team Blue were selected as the
judges' least favorites.

WINNER: Ariane of Team Borrowed (Lamb
Marinated in French and Curry
Spices, with Vadouvan Carrot Purée & Wilted Kale)

Episode 6: 12 Days of
Christmas

Quickfire Challenge: The chefs arrive to find
the Top Chef Kitchen decorated for Christmas, Padma Lakshmi
waiting to present their next challenge: They are to create a "one
pot wonder", a holiday meal that can be prepared in just one
cooking vessel. The chefs have 45 minutes to cook and present their
dishes to Padma and guest judge, American iconMartha Stewart. The prize, in addition
to immunity in the elimination challenge, is an autographed copy of
Stewart's latest book, Martha Stewart's Cooking School.

Elimination Challenge: Cater a 250 guest
holiday party hosted by amfAR,
the American Foundation for AIDS Research, at the Prince George
Ballroom in New York City. There will be, including fundraisers,
celebrities and guest judges Chef Michelle Bernstein and actress Natasha
Richardson. The chefs are given a hint as to the inspiration
for their dishes by the arrival of the Harlem
Gospel Choir, singing a rendition of "The 12 Days of
Christmas." Padma then asks the chefs to draw knives. As only
11 chefs remain in the competition, one of the knives—number 4—was
not drawn. The chefs are given 45 minutes to shop at Whole Foods
Market and a budget of $800 to create a dish inspired by their
verse. They will have three hours to prep that night, one hour to
prep and pack the next morning, and one hour to prepare their
dishes on-site the next night.

Radhika - A Partridge in a Pear Tree

Carla - Two Turtledoves

Leah - Three French Hens

Eugene - Five Golden Rings

Ariane - Six Geese a-Laying

Jamie - Seven Swans a-Swimming

Melissa - Eight Maids a-Milking

Fabio - Nine Ladies Dancing

Jeff - Ten Lords a-Leaping

Hosea - Eleven Pipers Piping

Stefan - Twelve Drummers Drumming

At Judges' Table, Hosea, Jeff, Radhika, and Stefan were
selected as the judges' favorites.

At Judges' Table, Eugene, Jamie, and Melissa were selected as
the judges' least favorites.

Note: The judges could not eliminate any of the chefs this week
due to a refrigerator malfunction that left Hosea's and Radhika's
primary proteins unusable and created an unlevel playing field. On
air, Tom Colicchio said the judges felt that all of the dishes,
including the best ones, were below "Top Chef" standards, but they
admired the way all the chefs worked together to help Hosea and
Radhika.

Elimination Challenge Prize: All four of the judges' favorites
received copies of Michelle Bernstein's latest cookbook, "Cuisine à
Latina."

Episode
7: Focus Group

Quickfire Challenge: The chefs arrive in the
Top Chef Kitchen to see Padma joined by Michelin star-winning chef, Jean-Christophe Novelli. Padma
explains that nowadays, chefs must work harder to provide their
customers something they crave without all of the guilt. She shows
the chefs all the sugar in the Top Chef Pantry, and tells them that
she and Jean-Christophe are walking out with it. For their Diet Dr. Pepper Quickfire Challenge, the
chefs have 45 minutes to craft a sugar-free dessert so good, the
judges will think there is "nothing diet about it." The winner
receives immunity from elimination in the next challenge.

Elimination Challenge:Tom Colicchio
visits the chefs in their apartment to split them into two groups
by drawing knives. They are told that two contestants will be
eliminated in this challenge, so they can cook what they think will
express their individuality. They are given $100 and 30 minutes to
shop for a dinner for about 10 people, including the four judges
and an unspecified number of mystery food experts. In their groups,
the chefs are given two hours to cook at the Astor Center, where
they will serve their dishes family-style to the judges. But there
are some twists: it is a blind judging (the judges will not know
who cooked what dish), and the mystery judges will be the chefs
from the other group. Also, the chefs also watch the tasting via a
hidden camera and a television installed in the kitchen, revealed
after serving their dishes. This gives the chefs a viewing of the
honest assessment of their fellow contestants as well as the new
permanent judge, British food critic Toby Young.

At Judges' Table, Ariane, Jamie, and Stefan were selected as
the judges' favorites.

At Judges' Table, Carla, Eugene, and Melissa were selected as
the judges' least favorites.

Episode 8: Down on the
Farm

Quickfire Challenge: The chefs arrive in the
Top Chef Kitchen to see Padma standing with Hung Huynh, the winner of season
three. She says that chefs of their caliber should have no
problem creating great food when using the freshest and most
seasonal ingredients. However, she then removes a cloth to reveal a
display of canned goods, as well as other cupboard and pantry
staples. The chefs then have 15 minutes to create a delicious dish
using only these ingredients. The winner receives immunity from
elimination in the next challenge.

Elimination Challenge: The chefs are asked to
draw knives and split into three teams: Team
Chicken (Carla, Jamie and Stefan), Team
Lamb (Ariane, Hosea and Leah), and Team
Pork (Fabio, Jeff and Radhika). The chefs are to create a
delicious, seasonal lunch for 16 people based on their team's
protein. Their menu must be served family-style, and must include a
dessert. They spend that night planning the menu. The next morning,
instead of being taken to Whole Foods Market, they are driven
to Stone Barns
Center for Food & Agriculture, a farm in Pocantico Hills, New York
owned by award-winning chef, Dan Barber. The chefs are provided cuts of
fresh meat from the farm's stock and are allowed to choose fresh
produce grown on the grounds. They are given three hours to prepare
a lunch for the farmers and chefs from Stone Barns and their
families in the kitchen of Chef Barber's on-site restaurant, Blue Hill
at Stone Barns.

Episode 9: Restaurant
Wars

Quickfire Challenge: The chefs arrive in the
Top Chef Kitchen to see Padma standing with successful restaurateur
Stephen Starr.
She and Stephen explain that part of opening a restaurant is to do
a tasting for prospective investors. Therefore, their Quickfire is
to do a tasting for Stephen. The chefs then have 30 minutes and
complete access to the Top Chef pantry to create one dish that
showcases their concept for a potential restaurant. The top two
chefs do not receive immunity, but, instead, will be team leaders
in the next Elimination Challenge, and will also get to choose
their respective teams.

From this point on, the winner(s) of the Quickfire Challenge
will not receive immunity.

Elimination Challenge: For Restaurant Wars,
the chefs, split into teams, have 24 hours to create a restaurant
and open it for one night. Each team is given $5,000 to shop at Pier 1 Imports
for decor, and $3,000 to spend on food at Whole Foods
Market and Restaurant Depot, a restaurant provision warehouse.
They have 6 hours to prep for the dinner service on location at
Bridgewater’s Restaurant, where they would later be serving 60
diners over a period of 5 hours. Radhika and Leah, as the Quickfire
winners, get to choose and lead their teams.

Episode 10: Super Bowl
Chef Showdown

Quickfire Challenge: The chefs arrive in the
Top Chef kitchen to see Padma standing with Chef Scott Conant, who
recently opened a New York Times three-star rated restaurant.
She then presents a chart with a set of hidden secret ingredients
on the top row, and hidden food groups on the left column. The
contestants must each pick squares on different rows and columns,
after which, Padma reveals their corresponding food group. She then
uncovers the secret ingredients, disclosing that the chefs will all
be working with oats. For their Quaker Oats Quickfire
Challenge, they are given 45 minutes to create a unique dish that
pairs whole grain oats with the food groups they have chosen. The
winner does not receive immunity, but instead gains an advantage in
the Elimination Challenge.

Elimination Challenge: For their elimination,
the chefs, united as one team, must compete in the first ever "Top
Chef Bowl," against "all-star" contestants from past seasons of the
show. Each Season 5 contestant will compete against an all-star
chef in a "head-to-head" cook-off, celebrating the regional cuisine
of one of seven NFL teams (see below), and using a set of
this region's ingredients, provided for them in a "mystery box".
Stefan, as the Quickfire winner, is allowed to choose which team's
food he will be making, and the all-star chef he will be cooking
against. The other chefs, in their teams, have 5 minutes to decide
who will be cooking what regional cuisine. Then, they are given 2
hours to experiment with their ingredients and prep for the
cook-off. The next day, they are given 20 minutes to create their
dishes, head-to-head at the Institute of Culinary
Education, in front of an audience including ICE students and
the already eliminated contestants. In each round, if a chef
receives the majority of the judges' votes, they get a touchdown,
worth 7 points. If they receive a majority of the votes of five
culinary students tasting their dish, they get a field goal, worth
3 points. And if the judges are split evenly over whose food is the
best, the student tasters will decide who receives all 10 points.
In the end, the Season 5 chefs that win, 37-33, and are proclaimed
the winners of the Top Chef Bowl.

NFL teams and pairs of contestants and all-stars, in order of
competition. The name of winning chef for each round is
italicized.

Episode
11: Le Bernardin

Quickfire Challenge: The chefs walk into the
Top Chef kitchen to see Padma standing with Eric Ripert, multi-award winning chef and
owner of the highly acclaimed seafood restaurant, Le Bernardin. “Eric
is all about technique and precision," she says, "so for your
Quickfire, we’re going to test the precision and speed of your
technique, in a three-round fish filleting tournament." Chefs with
the worst fillets of each round were eliminated, until one is left
standing. The winner does not receive immunity, but instead gains
an advantage in the Elimination Challenge.

Round 1: The chefs have 5 minutes to clean and
butterfly two sardines.
Jamie and Carla are eliminated.

Round 2: The remaining chefs have 5 minutes to
clean and fillet an arctic char. Leah and Fabio are
eliminated.

Round 3: The last two chefs have 10 minutes to
skin, clean and fillet a fresh water eel. Hosea is eliminated.

WINNER: Stefan

Elimination Challenge: Eric Ripert invites the
chefs to six-course lunch at his restaurant, Le Bernardin, with Tom
Colicchio and himself. After eating, Tom reveals that their
Elimination Challenge is to recreate the six-course menu that was
just served to them. Stefan, as the Quickfire winner, gets to
choose which dish he will be cooking, while the other chefs must
draw knives. They have 2 hours to prep in the main kitchen at the
restaurant, with the ingredients from the recipes provided for
them. Then, they have 15 minutes to cook their dish in the private
dining room kitchen, after which they will serve their dishes to
the judges.

At Judges' Table, Carla, Fabio, and Stefan were selected as the
judges' favorites for this challenge.

At Judges' Table, Hosea, Jamie, and Leah were selected as the
judges' least favorites for this challenge.

WINNER: Stefan

ELIMINATED: Jamie

Elimination Challenge Prize: A copy of Eric Ripert's book
On the Line, one week shadowing Ripert at three of his
restaurants, starting at Le Bernardin, with a room at the
Ritz-Carlton Hotel, and a trip to the Food and Wine Festival at Pebble Beach.

Episode 12: The Last
Supper

Quickfire Challenge: The chefs walk into the
Top Chef Kitchen to see Padma next to Wylie Dufresne, culinary innovator and
chef-owner of wd~50 in New York City. Wylie says that he has always
loved eggs, and that breakfast has always been his favorite meal.
He then explains that he believes proper egg cookery is a sign of a
good chef. So for their Quickfire, the chefs have 1 hour and full
access to the Top Chef Pantry, as well as a large assortment of
eggs, to create a dish incorporating eggs that will surprise and
delight “egghead” Wylie. The winner does not receive immunity, but
instead gains an advantage in the Elimination Challenge.

Elimination Challenge: Padma asks the chefs to
draw knives, and they pull the names of five different luminaries
in the culinary world: Celebrity chefs Lidia Bastianich, Marcus
Samuelsson, Wylie Dufresne and Jacques Pépin,
and James Beard Foundation President
Susan Ungaro. Because it was the last meal of the competition in
New York, these “superstars” were asked to choose their "last
meal."(see below). Carla, as the Quickfire winner, was allowed to
switch stars and their associated dishes with another contestant,
but chose not to. The chefs have to create a five-course meal for
these stars, as well as the judges, with each chef preparing the
dish chosen by the chef whose name they selected. They have $300
and 30 minutes to shop at Whole Foods Market, and then two
hours to cook their dishes at the Capitale in Lower Manhattan,
where the dinner will be held.

Note: Although all of the above culinary luminaries are
credited as guest judges in the Elimination Challenge, only Jacques
Pépin was at Judges' Table.

First aired: February 11, 2009

Episode 13: New
Orleans Finale, Part 1

Quickfire Challenge: Six months after the
taping of the previous episode, the chefs arrive at the Houmas House Plantation and Gardens in New Orleans, Lousiana. Here, they see Padma
with Head Judge Tom
Colicchio, as well as celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse, a television host and
restaurant owner known as the “King of Creole Cuisine.” “Nowhere in
the country does the food represent so vividly the spirit and soul
of a city,” Padma says after welcoming the finalists. “Yes; I mean
what an incredible food city,” agrees Emeril, “One of the oldest in
America, and we are going and experiencing a total rebirth after
the last four years of what we’ve gone through with Hurricane
Katrina. But I’ll tell you; the spirit of the food could not be any
bigger.” Padma tells the chefs that they can relax for this
challenge, because they won't be competing; instead, three other
chefs will. From the house come Jamie, Jeff and Leah, the three
most recently eliminated contestants. Tom explains that in the
spirit of the rebirth of New Orleans, these three chefs have been
given an opportunity to return to the competition. For their
Quickfire Challenge, they have one hour to create a dish featuring
one of New Orleans’s most celebrated ingredients: crawfish. The
winner will join the four finalists in the Elimination Challenge,
but will have to win that challenge to reach the final round. In
addition, they will also receive a copy of Emeril's new book,
Emeril at the Grill.

Elimination Challenge: The now five finalists
head to Mardi Gras World, a Mardi Gras warehouse, where they meet with
Padma and Emeril Lagasse. She explains that their Elimination
Challenge is to cater the Krewe of OrpheusMasquerade Ball at the New Orleans Museum of Art,
for roughly 100 guests. They must each prepare a cocktail and two
dishes, one of which must be in the Creole style of cooking. As
Emeril explains, Creole cooking is the city
version of Louisiana cooking, influenced by the French, Spanish,
and African-American cultures. They have five hours to prep and
cook at Emeril’s Delmonico, with
access to all of the ingredients stocked there, and one hour to set
up at the museum and meet with their respective bartender provided
to assist them in serving their cocktail.

At Judges' Table, Carla, Hosea and Jeff were selected as the
judges' favorites.

At Judges' Table, Fabio and Stefan were selected as the judges'
least favorites.

Episode 14: New
Orleans Finale, Part 2

Final Challenge: After breakfast on the Creole Queen, the
final three chefs arrive at the Historic New Orleans Collection to meet
with Padma and Tom. They are instructed to cook the best
three-course meal of their life, with no restrictions, for twelve
judges. As in past seasons, each is allowed to pick a sous
chef, this time runners-up of previous seasons, Marcel (Season
2), Casey (Season 3), and Richard (Season 4). The chefs draw knives
to select the order in which they will select their sous chefs.
Hosea has the first pick chooses to work with Richard. Stefan has
the second pick and chooses Marcel, leaving Carla to work with
Casey. The chefs and their sous chefs then have two hours to prep
at the Audubon Tea Room, and another three hours to cook their
dishes at Commander's Palace, where the dinner
will be held. On the day of the meal, they are told to create an
additional hors d'oeuvre using one of three meats: redfish, crab, or alligator. A king cake is used to
determine which what meat each chef will use - the chef finding the
doll gets his or her choice of protein, and then assigns the other
proteins to the other two chefs. Hosea finds it, and chooses
redfish as his protein, while assigning Carla to use crab and
Stefan to work with alligator.

At Judges' Table, the judges agreed that Carla fell down on her
second and third courses, and was no longer in the running. They
agreed that Stefan had the best second course, but was weaker on
his first and third courses. The judges felt that Hosea had the
best third course, and the strongest meal overall.

Note: While all of the guest judges listed ate the contestants'
meals, none were present at Judges' Table. Only the four permanent
judges took part in the final discussion and decision.

First aired: February 25, 2009

Episode 15:
Reunion

All the chefs and judges were reunited for the first time since
they had gathered in New York City. Topics discussed included the
"bro-mance" that went on between Stefan and Fabio; Tom Colicchio's
life-rescue in Washington, D.C.; Gail Simmons's wedding; if Toby
Young was the "Simon
Cowell" of Top Chef; and Jamie's bad mood whenever she didn't
win a challenge while on the top. Also included were the surprising
"romance" that went on between Hosea and Leah; who the biggest
crier was this season; why Patrick and Lauren couldn't handle the
first Quickfire Challenge; some advice on "where Stefan got his
cockiness from and how the viewer can get it"; the large amount of
bald guys on the show; and if there were nicknames for the chefs
this season. Videos included Hosea's ride from the first challenge
to winning Top Chef; "documentaries" of Fabio, Carla, Stefan, Jeff,
and Jamie; a "birthday curse" of getting eliminated on or near
their birthday for Daniel, Eugene, Radhika, and Leah; the more
painful moments at Judges' Table. Also shown were a tribute to the
bald contestants on the show; Stefan and Fabio's "bro-mance"; Hosea
and Leah's "romance"; Jamie and Leah's drunk night at Judges'
Table; and the biggest weepers of this season. In addition, Fabio
Viviani was awarded $10,000 and the title of Fan Favorite.